U.S. House Passes Bill to Extend Temporary Ban on Fentanyl Look-Alikes for 15 Months

Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin. CNN

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Jan. 30 that would temporarily extend the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) class-wide ban on all variants of the powerful synthetic drug fentanyl, which has helped fuel the opioid crisis in the United States.

The bill, which was identical to a version approved in the Republican-led U.S. Senate earlier this month, will now make its way to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature just before the DEA’s temporary powers on fentanyl analogues expire on Feb. 6.